Five Rousannes. Some Tasted. All Captured.

Harpooning the Great White Grape

Chasing the Great White Grape


Reaching across the continent, from the Best to the Least Coast we have “found notes” of wines tasted and pondered [ed. i.e., profiled.] Our Connecticut taster with the Rousanne Jones took a break from grading papers and reading decades-old class notes to weigh in on some of his recent encounters with the Great White Grape. That’s right mateys. Captain Mouse is in the House, barnacles and all.

doyenne-rousanneWEB2010 Delille Cellars Doyenne Roussanne Red Mountain Vineyard Washington. Purchased for $8.64 a bottle, plus reasonable shipping, from InternetWines.com after enough research to confirm that the wine should still be decent. Well, after the first bottle, I ordered more. You should, too. It needed, as good aged Roussanne does, an hour of air time. Then the magic happened. Gooseberries, goose feathers, goose foie gras and who goosed the moose. I mean, the buy of the year? Tanzer gave it a high score, and RP loves these wines. 2miceWEBThe wine stores sell them for $36. For the $14 they cost me, I’m shudder-brundered. [ed. available online] As the label says, it should last for years. Roussanne does have the requisite acids when vinified properly. This is proper wine. Deux Mice, conservatively.

navaheros09WEB2011 Bodega Bernabeleva Navaherreros Blanco Vinos de Madrid. I only bought this because it’s 50 percent Roussanne and came with a nice ST number. Roussanne from Spain? From some little known bodega on the outskirts of Madrid? I forget the obscure white native grapes blended with this because my beloved Roussanne screams for attention. This is a heavier offering than Delille, and while it’s perhaps not quite as scrumptious, 2miceWEBit too merited a reorder from LastCallWines. $15 including shipping. BTW, finding good Roussanne for under $25 can be quite challenging, and now my musty Connecticut cellar is bulging. Gulp this down with veal chops or fried oysters – but not those tasteless West Coast varieties. Really good. Dos ratons, tambien.

2012 St. Cosme Cotes du Rhone Blanc $18. Pity me, as I believed the b-21 in Tarpon Springs, FL website, which hawked it as “Roussanne”. [ed. bastards!] Now I come to learn it’s a blend with merely 20 percent [ed. of the precious grape he hunts like Ahab hunted Moby Dick] along with the usual cast of Rhone whites. Well, St. Cosme is a superb Gigondas outfit, and they make some of the best Cote Rotie I’ve had. Never had their whites, so while I’m curious, I’m not vibrating with anticipation. It might be floral and richly lemon, or tropical with lychee aromas. Or it be neutral unleaded, like most Cotes du Rhone Blanc. [ed. Bravo Mssr. Mouse for the much anticipated profiling review of wines yet untasted here and following!]

CdB-old-vinesWEB2010 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf de Pape Blanc Vielles Vignes. b-21 must have accidentally put this in my order, for this is something I cannot justify. How nice of them! There is no white wine in the world I’d rather try. The undisputed king of Roussanne, from an outstanding vintage. Perhaps I’ll take some to the local Clam Castle and pull a Miles [ed. a “Miles?”]. A very publicized bottle from a very famous concern. Trembling in Guilford. Hoping it’s equal to the hype. Drooling.

farjon-saint_joseph_blancWE2012 Domaine Farjon St Joseph Blanc. 80-20 Roussanne/Marsanne blend; the only two grapes permitted, adjacent Condrieu grows only Viognier. Sampled and bought in July from the winery in Malleval, a village in the heart of St. Joseph. Great wine, 12 euros from Madame Farjon. Check out Malleval!

Ed. C’est fantastique! Rousanne around the world. Enough to make one visit Malleval… below.
malleval-duoWEB